Lilypads as seen by a Frog
Lilypads as seen by a Frog
Details
Year: 2026
Medium: Watercolor on panel
Size: 18 × 24 in
Status: Framed
Price: $1,800.00 USD*
Note
In bright light, frogs are trichromats with red, green, and blue-sensitive cones that produce a color experience roughly equivalent to our own. This painting leans into that full daytime palette, with the warm yellows, oranges, and greens all falling within the frog's cone-driven spectral range. The painting shows the frog looking down from its perch on a lily pad at the bright water surface below. The dark outlines where leaf edges meet water hint at the frog's sharp motion sensitivity. Retinal ganglion cells amplify edges in motion while suppressing stationary fields, so the painting shows the rippling perimeter remaining crisply defined even as the interior dissolves.
Fun Fact: This painting does not show a remarkable visual trait that frogs possess: in near-total darkness, a unique dual-rod system (one type peaking at roughly 500nm green, the other at roughly 430nm blue) allows frogs to distinguish colors at the absolute threshold of vision, lower than any other vertebrate tested. In that darkness, this scene would collapse to deep navy and muted grey-green, with only moving elements retaining sharp definition.
Other Paintings in the Series
Lilypads as seen by a Dragonfly
My Promise
10% of proceeds from every purchase are donated to the World Wildlife Fund to support the protection of endangered species. Thank you for supporting my work and the ecosystems that inspire it.
*If you love this work but the price is out of reach, please feel free to contact me.